Skip to content
Linespedia

To Mr. Thomas Southern, On His Birth Day

By Alexander Pope

Topics: classic

Resign'd to live, prepar'd to die, With not one sin, but poetry, This day Tom's fair account has run (Without a blot) to eighty-one. Kind Boyle, before his poet, lays A table, with a cloth of bays; And Ireland, mother of sweet singers, Presents her harp still to his fingers. The feast, his tow'ring genius marks In yonder wild goose and the larks! The mushrooms shew his wit was sudden! And for his judgement, lo a pudden! Roast beef, tho' old, proclaims him stout, And grace, altho' a bard, devout. May Tom, whom heav'n send down to raise The price of prologues and of plays, He ev'ry birth-day more a winner, Digest his thirty thousandth dinner; Walk to his grave without reproach, And scorn a rascal and a coach.

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"Resign'd to live, prepar'd to die,..."

This evocative piece by Alexander Pope, titled "To Mr. Thomas Southern, On His Birth Day", represents a masterful exploration of classic. The lines capture a profound emotional resonance... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

Attribution & Rights

Author:Alexander Pope

"Resign'd to live, prepar'd to die,..." by Alexander Pope

For usage rights, copyright concerns, or to report an issue with this content, please visit our Copyright & Report page.

Related lines

"TRANSLATED IN THE YEAR 1703.     ARGUMENT.     Oedipus, King of Thebes, having, by mistake, slain his father Laius, and married his mother Joc"

"Did Milton's prose, O Charles! thy death defend?     A furious foe unconscious proves a friend.     On Milton's verse did Bentley comment? Know,"

"Grown old in rhyme, 'twere barbarous to discard     Your persevering, unexhausted bard;     Damnation follows death in other men,     But your"

"Of manners gentle, of affections mild;     In wit, a man; simplicity, a child:     With native humour tempering virtuous rage,     Form'd to de"

"Here morning in the ploughman's songs is met     Ere yet one footstep shows in all the sky,     And twilight in the east, a doubt as yet,     S"

"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Alexander Pope

About Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope (1688–1744) was an English poet and the master of the heroic couplet. His works include "The Rape of the Lock," "An Essay on Man," and brilliant translations of Homer. He was the dominant poet of the Augustan age and a master of satirical verse.

Full Bibliography
Continue Reading

"TRANSLATED IN THE YEAR 1703.     ARGUMENT.     O..."

Weekly Poetic Insight

Join our literary Sanctuary

Get the most inspiring lines, poetic analysis, and secret shayaris delivered to your inbox every Sunday.